Getting back to Springfield, MO for the first time in over a year, I was telling one of my accounts in Kansas City prior to the trip that I would be coming up from Springfield before I saw him. "Springfield, Missouri," he asked excitedly. "Have you ever eaten at Cesar's Old Mexico?" I told him that I had not. "Man, you gotta go," he told me in an excited manner. "That's some of the best Mexican food I've ever had." Getting into Springfield after a long day of driving, I made it over to Cesar's Old Mexico around 8 p.m. that particular evening.
I've been traveling to Springfield for work for a long, long time. It has been one of my all-time favorite destinations - not only because I've liked working with the various accounts I've had over the years, but because it's an interesting culinary community. Surprisingly, Springfield has a handful of outstanding sushi restaurants. (Go figure, huh? Especially in a land-locked community that is so far from the ocean.) They also have a burgeoning barbecue scene, and - for some reason - they have a number of Chinese restaurants. Springfield is known as the birthplace of Cashew Chicken, a dish that was developed by a Cantonese immigrant in a Springfield restaurant in the early 60's. (Full disclosure - I've tried Cashew Chicken - albeit over 20 years ago. I didn't really care for it. Detractors called it "Americanized" Chinese food.)
But the one thing that sticks out for me is the number of outstanding Mexican restaurants in the Springfield area. I've eaten at 7 or 8 Mexican restaurants in the area over the years that I have come to the area and I have to say that I don't think I've ever had a disappointing meal at any of places I've visited. One of those places is Cielito Lindo, a small Mexican place just down the street from one of my accounts in Springfield. And it was at Cielito Lindo where the owner of Cesar's Old Mexico got his start.
Cesar Ortiz was born in the western Mexican state of Jalisco and immigrated to Springfield in the mid-90's to work for his brother at Cielito Lindo. While working at Cielito Lindo, he met a young lady who was a frequent customer of the place. The young lady - Sandra Gonzales - mentioned to Cesar that maybe they should go out on a date at some point. That date eventually happened and the rest - as they say - is history. Ortiz and Gonzales eventually married and raised a blended family of four children.
Ortiz worked for his brother for 18 years before he and his wife decided they wanted to do their own restaurant. Sandra had grown up in El Salvador and had a number of recipes that she wanted to feature at a new restaurant. And Cesar Ortiz wanted to feature foods not only handed down from his mother, but from different regions of Mexico rather than the tried and true Mexican favorites that most of the other restaurants around the city had on their menus.
In mid-2015, Cesar and Sandra began looking for buildings to put their restaurant in and they found a spot on the northeast side of Springfield. Cesar thought the building was too small, but it was basically all they could afford starting out. Many of their friends thought that the Ortiz/Gonzales family was crazy for wanting to go into such a small place. They couldn't open a larger place just starting out, so they had to make do with what they had. Ortiz and Gonzales opened Cesar's Old Mexico at the end of 2015. With Cesar Ortiz running the kitchen and Sandra Gonzales looking after everything else in the restaurant, it wasn't long before their small restaurant was filled starting at noon every day.
By 2019, it was apparent that Cesar's Old Mexico was too small for the amount of business they were doing. A larger place was needed and quick. A restaurant had closed down on E. Sunshine Street in northeast Springfield and the floor plan was perfect for more dining space along with a bar area and a larger kitchen. Cesar's Old Mexico moved into their new space at the start of 2020, just before the pandemic hit. (see map)
I pulled into Cesar's Little Mexico just before 8 p.m. on a Wednesday evening after driving in from St. Louis via Columbia. The parking lot was packed and there appeared to be a wait with people hanging out just outside the door on the side of the building. It turned out they were waiting for tables for four. Since it was just me, I thought I'd have a better chance at getting seated right away. A young lady at the host station asked if I wanted to sit at the bar. But the bar was sort of busy and cluttered. I noticed that there was a small table for two sitting unclaimed and asked if I could sit there. She sort of reluctantly led me over to the table and gave me a menu to look over.
The dining area at Cesar's Old Mexico was pretty small, but it was lively and cozy. It appeared that it was possibly an old Wendy's restaurant at some point with the signature atrium on the front of the restaurant. A mural covered the front of the restaurant on the atrium. The colorful dining area featured a number of Mexican skeltons - known as calacas - to celebrate the notion that no dead soul likes to be remembered sadly.
My server for the evening was a young lady by the name of Alondra. She was friendly and effervescent, and had a good sense of humor. I started out with a jumbo gold margarita. It was very tasty and went down pretty quickly after a long day of driving and meetings.
A side of chips and salsa came with the meal and I got a side of fresh-made guacamole to go along with the chips. The chips were crisp, warm and definitely made in-house. The salsa had a bit of a smoky flavor and the guacamole was creamy and very tasty.
I had been looking through the menu trying to figure out what to get for dinner. They had the typical Mexican food fare - burritos, enchiladas, tacos, etc. They also had Salvadoran favorites like pupusas - puffy corn meal flatbread that is stuffed with any combination of beans, cheese and pork. And Cesar's featured a number of steak, pork, chicken and seafood dishes. I came really close to getting the grilled tilapia tacos, but I was looking for something a bit more substantial that night.
My dealer in the Kansas City area had told me to get the "Big Tijuana" - it was a platter consisting of steak, chorizo, chicken, shrimp and pork carnitas topped with a queso sauce along with rice, refried beans and a guacamole salad. That sounded like a LOT of food. And I came pretty close to getting the Rancho Grande enchiladas - three enchiladas with a choice of beef or chicken and topped with either a green tomatillo sauce or a red ranchero sauce. (Steak, pork or grilled chicken could be substituted for an uncharge.) But something else caught my eye further down the menu.
I ended up getting the pork chile verde - tender pork tips topped with a green tomatillo sauce that came with beans, rice, and a guacamole salad. Three soft flour tortillas came with the meal. It was a large portion of food on the plate. I could almost imagine how much food the Big Tijuana would have had on the plate. I knew this was going to be too much food. (And it turned out that I was right about that.)
I wanted to get a beer to go along with the meal and I asked Alondra if I could get a Sol. She left and came back moments later to tell me that they were out of Sol. Hmmm..., OK. I saw that they had Dos Equis Ambar on tap and I signed up with one of those - a 22 ounce draw.
Even though it was a lot of food, I made a serious dent in what I had on my plate. The pork tips were very tender and literally fell apart in my mouth. The tomatillo sauce was excellent and I made a couple tacos out of the combination on the plate. The freshness of the food was very evident with each bite. I normally don't like refried beans all that much, but these were really good - especially as a base on the tacos.
I was stuffed when Alondra came around and asked if I wanted a box to go. I had to pass since I was traveling. She said, "It was a lot of food, wasn't it?" It was a lot of food - and damned good, too!
It was tough to beat everything I experienced at Cesar's Old Mexico. The food was very good, I really liked the gold margarita, the chips, salsa and guacamole were all top-notch, and the service I had from Alondra was probably the best of all. She was efficient and fun as a server. With all the good to great Mexican restaurants in Springfield, I have to think that Cesar's Old Mexico is one of the best in the area. It was one of the best I've had in recent times.
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